TOULON — When police get done counting, Robert L. Beard II could go down as one of the most prolific burglars in central Illinois history.

He certainly has been rangy — and resilient.

In 2005, Beard pleaded guilty to dozens of burglaries across six counties north of Peoria. After four years in prison and five lying low, the 32-year-old faces seven charges (mostly burglary) in Stark County, plus four counts in nearby counties. He seems to have become more adroit in his illicit trade, focusing on businesses instead of homes for potentially bigger hauls. Perhaps he gleaned valuable tips while incarcerated.

“He went to The College of Criminal Technology: the Illinois Department of Corrections,” says Robert Winn, chief deputy for the Stark County Sheriff’s Office. “He must’ve learned something.”

Indeed, at some point since 2005, he did pick up one thing: a taste for heroin, sources says. Police say his habit — unknown to even some family members — prompted his return to crime.

So far police aren’t sure of the scope of the most recent crime spree. Beard is being investigated in multiple counties.

“We’ve still got phone calls coming in,” Winn says.

***

Beard’s felony record began in 2001, when he was charged with theft in Henry County. The next year, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison; he earned day-for-day good time and was released from the Illinois Department of Corrections the next year.

Also in 2001, he had a minor arrest, in Bureau County. He eventually was found guilty of misdemeanor marijuana possession.

In 2004, Beard was living in the Bureau County village of Tiskilwa. Late that year, he plundered small towns in six counties: Stark, Bureau, LaSalle, Henry, Putnam and Marshall.

“We called him The Christmas Burglar,” recalls Marshall County Sheriff Rob Russell. “It happened at Christmastime.”

Beard had no master scheme. He drove around the area, seeking random opportunities — sometimes businesses, but mostly homes.

“He just went out cruising for dark houses,” the sheriff says. “There was no rhyme or reason.”

He mostly sought cash, along with small, pawnable items, especially jewelry. His takes ranged from small amounts ($25 from an insurance agency) to larger sums ($3,470 from a German restaurant).

Beard usually would gain entry in the simplest way: by breaking or prying open a door or window, police say. Often, the damage was greater than the value of his hauls.

Still, though his method was crude, Beard was smart in one aspect: he acted alone.

“That’s good for a burglar,” says one Beard investigator who asked not be named. “That way, there’s no one else (as an accomplice) to say anything to anyone else.”

Page 2 of 3 - Police never revealed how Beard became a suspect. But just before the end of 2004, he was arrested in Bureau County. Soon thereafter, he copped to dozens of burglaries in the area, Russell says. In fact, when authorities elsewhere handed him over to Marshall County in early 2005, Russell was nothing but helpful.

“He was very cooperative,” Russell says. “We’d drive him around, and he’d point out where he did the burglaries.”

Eventually, Beard pleaded guilty to 42 burglaries. Beard’s favorite targets were Stark County (13 burglaries) and Henry County (12). He also pulled six break-ins in Bureau, four each in LaSalle and Putnam, and three in Marshall. In spring 2005, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution.

But through it all, despite his candor with police, Beard never pinpointed a motive, Russell says. To police, he never blamed a drug problem, and investigators never found such an indication, the sheriff says.

“He just said he was desperate for cash,” Russell says.

***

Beard kept his nose clean in prison. Thanks to time served in jail before sentencing, plus day-for-day good time and other credits, he was paroled on Dec. 30, 2008. His sentence was discharged by the state — that is, he did nothing to violate parole — on Feb. 5, 2010.

In recent years, Beard has lived in Toulon, the Stark County seat and home to 1,292 residents. About five years ago, he married a woman from Toulon, Teresa Collins, with whom he has two children.

Teresa Collins — who in recent times briefly worked part time for the sheriff’s office as a dispatcher and jailer — could not be reached for comment. Her father is Richard Collins, who twice served as mayor of the city. His last term, which ended in 2013, was marked by tumult, including controversies within the police department and his misdemeanor conviction for tossing a lawn mower part at a municipal employee.

Collins says his son-in-law had been working intermittently at various jobs, though he did not know exactly where. Meanwhile, according to court records, Beard had been paying small increments toward restitution on the 2005 crimes. Information was unavailable about the LaSalle County restitution; however, of $30,453 owed to victims in the other five counties, he has paid $2,150.

Richard Collins declined to talk extensively about Beard. He said he knew about Beard’s prior convictions, “but if someone wanted me to know more about them, they would’ve told me.” Otherwise, Collins said of Beard, “I’ve never had a bad relationship with him. He’s always been polite and respectful.”

Not so with his wife, according to a pair of charges filed in Stark County in January 2013. One, a felony count of aggravated domestic battery, alleged Beard strangled his wife; the other, a misdemeanor count of domestic battery, alleged he hit her in the eye. Those counts were dismissed the next month, at the official request of his wife.

Page 3 of 3 - Otherwise, except for three driving citations in the past two years, Beard had no run-ins with police.

Until last month.

***

On June 18, Beard was arrested on a $250,000 warrant for allegedly burglarizing a Toulon grain company’s office on June 1 and for illegally possessing another person’s debit card. The next week, Beard was charged with burglary in McDonough County for the June 4 burglary of the Bushnell City Hall, a heist that garnered more than $4,000 cash. That same week, he also was charged with three counts of burglary in Henry County; he allegedly broke into three auto-related businesses in Kewanee, in September and January.

Last week, five new charges were brought against Beard in Stark County. He allegedly burglarized farm service businesses in rural Princeville and rural Toulon, a pharmacy in Bradford and a monument company in Wyoming; further, he allegedly also tried to break into an equipment company in Bradford. And police say they are investigating Beard for possible involvement in other burglaries.

Why would Beard go back to burglary? Heroin, police say. To investigators, he has admitted to a severe problem.

“He was doping quite a bit of that crap,” says Winn of the Stark County Sheriff’s Department.

It’s unclear when Beard’s habit began. Many addicts take a half-gram a day, according to health experts. But Beard was taking as much as 2 grams a day, Winn says.

The cost of heroin varies, according to location and supply. But a typical range is $100 to $300 a gram, with many addicts spending $1,000 a week on their habit. Beard’s attorney, public defender Bob McBride of Henry, could not be reached for comment.

Collins, Beard’s father-in-law, says he had no inkling as to any heroin problem.

Collins has learned about Beard’s alleged activities from newspaper accounts. Perhaps as the case goes on, authorities can shed more light on what they know about his son-in-law.

“I wouldn’t mind knowing myself,” Collins says.

PHIL LUCIANO is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano or (309) 686-3155. Follow him on Twitter @LucianoPhil. He co-hosts Barstorming, a video blog of unique local taps and eateries taps, at http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/barstorming